Failure is Not an Option
by Simana
Summary: He was meant to be the greatest wizard in the world. No one could touch him. He couldn't be defeated. Because then his father would be angry. And no-one wanted to make his father angry. Set shortly before the Nirvana Arc.


**Hello all! The Oración Seis are my favourite Fairy Tail group, Midnight especially, and I really hope I've done him justice! Please leave a review and let me what you think! Obligatory disclaimer: I do not iwn Fairy Tail (sadly).**

For the first time in his life, Midnight realised just how large and imposing his adoptive father was. In the shadow of the Oracíon Seis' great fortress, Brain glowered down at the young wizard, silent, expression unreadable. Black eyes bored into red ones. Midnight shifted as subtly as he could, trying to ignore the water soaking his trousers, and the throbbing pain in his leg. His guild mates were gathered around the two of them, each one looking as uncomfortable as he felt. The silence stretched for what seemed like eternity, until Brain finally addressed his son.

"This is disappointing, Midnight," he said, his voice low and steady, but with a dangerous, hidden quality to it. "Such a simple task, and yet you have failed me."

Midnight couldn't take his eyes off Brain's face, where only five black lines remained, the sixth glaring in its absence. Swallowing nervously, Midnight opened his mouth to speak, but Brain cut him off before he could say a word. "I do not want to hear any excuses from you," the leader of Oracíon Seis said frostily, waving a dismissive hand in front of him, before turning his back on his son. "You have disgraced the name of the Six Demons, and brought shame upon our guild."

"Father, please!" Midnight exclaimed, stumbling to his feet and limping after Brain. His guildmates observed in silence, each wanting to intervene, but none of them daring enough to try. Cobra crossed his arms over his chest, and pressed his cheek against Cubellios. He could easily hear the level of fear in Midnight's voice, and the dangerous amount of anger in Brain's. He realised Midnight had screwed up, but still...

"Please!" Midnight repeated, clutching hold of Brain's arm in desperation. "Father, I-" In the blink of an eye, a back-handed strike sent Midnight sprawling back to the ground. The sound of knuckle hitting cheekbone was enough to make Cobra flinch, and the Dragon Slayer took a step forward, before a cold glare from Brain and a hand on his arm stopped him in his tracks. Racer held him in a vice-like grip. No, he heard. Angel and Hoteye watched him uncertainly, their own sentiments an echo of Racer's. Gritting his teeth, Cobra stayed where he was, and tried his best to block out the sound of Midnight's gasps for breath.

Brain stalked over, Klodoa swinging from his hand, and grabbed a fistful of his foster son's hair. With a sharp cry from Midnight, Brain yanked him to his feet, ignoring the way the young wizard tried to pry his fingers loose, and pulled him close so that their faces were only an inch apart.

"You dare to address me in such a way?" Brain said, voice low and steady all the while, but at the same time, heavy with barely controlled rage. "You dare call yourself my son, when you have brought such shame upon me? You are not worthy of such a title." Brain's grip on Midnight's hair tightened, and he lifted him high enough so that his feet dangled above the ground. The young mage's eyes and jaw clenched, and he struggled to suppress tears. "Consider yourself fortunate that I have not already cast you out. But be warned, Midnight." A single tear pricked at the corner of Midnight's eye. "If you ever disgrace yourself again, do not bother coming back." With that, Brain released Midnight's hair, and he dropped to the ground, landing in an undignified heap. Brain shook a few black and white hairs from his fingers, and abruptly turned around and disappeared into the depths of their fortress.

The air resonated with Brain's dramatic departure. It was broken only when Cobra hesitantly stepped forward. The reflector mage was curled up on his side, apparently oblivious to the world. Cobra approached warily, but when Midnight made no reaction to his approach, the snake wizard crouched by his side. The others kept their distance, doubtful that their assistance would be appreciated.

"Midnight?" Cobra tried, placing a hand on his guild mate's arm. In an instant, a hand snatched Cobra's white sleeve, and the Dragon Slayer quickly raised his arms up in a placating gesture, shuffling back a few steps.

"Don't," said Midnight simply, sitting up, and he gingerly rubbed the back of his head. This close up, Cobra could easily see the angry bruise blossoming on Midnight's cheek where Brain had struck him. "Don't touch me." He was just able to push himself up, though he put hardly any weight on his injured leg. Hobbling awkwardly a few steps, the young mage managed to reach the cold stone wall of the castle, and braced himself against it. Cobra stood up, though he made sure to keep his distance.

Head low, Midnight winced as he gripped his leg. The bleeding had slowed, but the wound still throbbed. Midnight stared at his hand, red and sticky with blood. It had been a long time since anyone had put so much as a scratch on him, and now this. It was beyond humiliation. Brain's words reverberated around his head, a constant reminder of his disgrace.

The mission had been so simple. Collect an overdue protection fee from one of the dark guilds that operated beneath the Seis, and spend some time teaching them the importance of punctuality. The moment Midnight had stepped into their guild hall, however, he'd known something was off. Even without an acute sense of hearing like Cobra's, the tension in the air around the dark mage had been palpable, but not the sort that usually greeted one of the Seis whenever they came calling. The Rune Knight's attack had caught Midnight off-guard, but it wouldn't have been the first time someone had attempted an ambush. The first few minutes of the battle had been easy; Midnight dispatched the Knights quickly and efficiently, one by one, deciding to leave most of his fun for the few treacherous underlings that hadn't been able to escape the guild hall before the fighting started.

He wasn't sure quite what had happened. Perhaps a surviving Knight saw their chance to attack while Midnight was occupied with strangling another with his own staff. Whatever it was, one moment Midnight had been dominating the battle, the next he was on his knees, searing pain stabbing through his leg. With his magic still active on his previous target, the dark mage hadn't been able to deploy his reflector shield in time to prevent a rain of attacks from hitting their mark. A blow to his head had sent his vision spinning, and in desperation he'd unleashed a whirl of magic that knocked the Knights back, giving Midnight the opportunity to scramble out of the building. The Knights were quick on his tail, however, with more awaiting him outside, but Midnight's Invisibility had allowed him to dodge them all and escape into the nearby forest.

Facing defeat for the first time in years, Midnight had limped his way back toward the Oración Seis castle. Cobra must've heard him coming from a mile away; with every step the pain in his leg spiked, and his breaths were ragged and uneven. So it was not much of a surprise that once he'd come within sight of their headquarters, he saw them all gathered outside, awaiting his return. Fear and dread slowed Midnight's steps as his eyes fell on Brain, but he'd kept walking, until finally he'd collapsed at his father's feet.

The sound of murmured conversation brought Midnight out of his reverie, and he looked over to see Angel, Racer and Hoteye talking quietly amongst themselves. Cobra still hovered nearby, watching his comrade silently, as if waiting for instructions. Midnight swallowed, his mouth dry, and tried to think of something to say. Thankfully, Cobra didn't need words to communicate. "You'll need to get that patched up," the dragon slayer stated quietly. The other three fell quiet when he spoke. After a moment's hesitation, Cobra added, "Do you want a hand?" Swallowing again, Midnight nodded hesitantly. He was still trying to process all that had happened, but as the shock gradually wore off, he was quickly reminded of what a sorry state he was in. The dark mage could no longer put any weight on his injured leg, and his whole body was starting to tremble.

Cobra turned to Racer, who nodded, already having an idea of what the dragon slayer would ask. "I'll go find some medical supplies." And in a flash he was gone. Hoteye and Angel were tasked with making sure Midnight's room was warm and comfortable, and that he was given something to eat. As Angel passed by the dragon slayer, she paused.

"What should we do about...?" She trailed off uncertainly, and glanced towards the doorway. Cobra shook his head.

"Brain will have just tucked himself away in his lab," he responded. "I'll help Midnight to his room, you just tell Cook to make something for him." Cobra's eyes darkened. "Don't go looking for Brain, Angel. If he's this pissed, it'll be better for us all if we just leave him alone to cool off." Angel nodded, and with a last glance at Midnight, followed Hoteye inside.

Cobra sighed, and turned back to his injured guild mate. "Come on," he said, approaching the other mage. "You need to get inside. You're a mess". The snake wizard extended a hand towards Midnight, who, after a moment, took it.

The journey up to Midnight's quarters was long and arduous; by the time they reached the door Cobra was all but carrying him. With each step Midnight's trembling got worse, and Cobra didn't like the way his breath rattled in his lungs. A couple of servants who were foolish enough to stand by and gawk were sent packing with Cubellios nipping at their heels. As Midnight collapsed onto his garish yellow bed covers, his guild mate collected up the medical supplies left on a table by Racer. Cobra wasted no time in cutting away the ruined cloth from around the wound, and wiped away as much blood as he could. His sensitive nose wrinkled at the sharp scent; Midnight had bled so much that Cobra was surprised he hadn't already fainted.

"Sorry if this hurts," he warned, soaking a piece of cotton in antiseptic solution. He may as well have been talking to a vegetable. Midnight's eyes remained glued to the ceiling, and he made no indication that he was even aware of Cobra's presence. Sighing, Cobra gently cleaned out the gash, leaving not a single bit of grit or mud. Once that was sorted, he deftly threaded a needle, and prepared to stitch his guildmate back together. "Sorry again," he murmured, before pricking him.

Midnight jolted. "Ow," he said. Cobra's mouth quirked up at the corner.

"Pussy," he teased, continuing his work.

Midnight grunted, and winced at another stitch. "You know I don't like needles," he retorted. Cobra chuckled, but quietened again as he finished up. The dragon slayer always tried to avoid listening in to his friends' inner voices, but Midnight was getting difficult to ignore. His thoughts roiled around his head like a dark storm cloud, laced with pain and uncertainty. Brain's silhouette loomed menacingly, and a very familiar terror seeped like ink into his mind as Brain grew a red tattoo and a crazed grin. Startled and shaken, Cobra stepped back, closing his ears as best he could. Ridiculous, he told himself. Brain's nothing like that bastard. He rescued us from him.

"Are you done yet?" Midnight murmured quietly. Cobra turned back; Midnight's eyes were drooping, and his breathing had evened out. Looked like the exhaustion of the day was finally catching up with him.

"Almost, you just need a bandage. You might want to wash your face too, your make-up's all over the place."

Midnight hummed, but obviously didn't care about his appearance right now. As Cobra wrapped a clean bandage around his leg, the door creaked open behind him.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you."

Cobra whipped round to see Brain standing in the open doorway, holding a tray. The dragon slayer blinked; he hadn't even heard the guild-master coming. Then again, Brain did have some secret way of hiding his movements and thoughts from even Cobra's ears.

"Uh, no, I've just finished," Cobra replied, glancing uncertainly at Midnight. The reflector mage was now sitting bolt upright, eyes wary and fixed on Brain's face.

"You are quite the physician, I see," Brain said, entering the room and depositing the tray on a table. It was laden with a bowl of steaming stew and warm bread. Brain must have intercepted whoever was supposed to be bringing it up.

Cobra shrugged. "The Tower of Heaven taught us a lot," he responded. Brain nodded, then gave a Cobra a meaningful look.

"Cubellios is making a fuss downstairs," he said. "You had better go and calm her down."

Cobra hesitated, eyes going back to Midnight. Brain cleared his throat, and Cobra dared not disobey. He dipped his head to Brain, before disappearing out the door.

Brain sighed, and turned to face his son, hands behind his back.

"I'm sorry, Father!" Midnight blurted. "I don't know what happened. I tried to fight them, but I... I..." He trailed off, lowering his head. "I'm sorry," he whispered. He listened as Brain stepped over to his bed and sat down awkwardly next to him.

Brain reached over and placed a hand on his head. "It's alright, Midnight," he said. "I'm sure you fought as well as you could. And I am sorry for what I did. You know you are very important to me". Brain took the young wizard's chin in his hand, and lifted his face up so he could look him in the eye. "But you must never disappoint me again." His grip on Midnight's chin tightened just slightly. "Understand?"

Midnight swallowed, and nodded. "Yes, father."

Brain smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Good boy." He released Midnight and got back to his feet. "I'll let you get some rest now," he said, picking up the tray of food and moving it closer to Midnight. "And be sure to eat up. You'll need your strength for when we start our search for Nirvana."

"What's Nirvana?" Midnight asked, tearing off a piece of bread and fiddling with it.

The same cold smile. "I'll tell you all about it tomorrow," Brain promised. "But I assure you, it'll answer every one of your prayers."


End file.
